Summer Wandering

I've been doing a decent amount of traveling this summer.  The places aren't necessarily ultra fascinating, but the memories and people are!

Over Memorial Day weekend, Chris and I ventured to St. Louis for a weekend with friends.  We had lunch with my mom, Julie and the kids on Sunday and it was super exciting to watch Jacob tackle corn on the cob.  Needless to say, it was a success and possibly a new favorite for him, probably because of the novelty of it.  That's one of the reason I love it!  He'd say things like "this is corn on the cob?"  and "what is this?" to which we'd respond "corn on the cob"...super cute!

School finished off nicely though I had to charge a kid for a moldy textbook that sat in water for I don't know how long and was still damp when he returned it to me, but it's no longer my problem.

Following my 30 minute school day, I promptly returned to Fairview where I spent time with family and went to a pretty awesome retirement party of a lady from my mom's office.

I returned to Jacksonville briefly before making my way to the greater Chicagoland area.  I was in Jacksonville just long enough to pack and go to a 6 hour training day at Bath and Body Works!!!  I actually just finished my first "real" day there today!  So far it is fantastic and I really super love it!  <lots of enthusiasm, I know.

I managed to pull off a fantastic day early arrival surprise for Chris.  He thought I was driving up on Wednesday, but really I got there on Tuesday.  I unloaded all my stuff while he was at work, hid my car and talked to him on his drive home like we sometimes do.  I almost ruined it when his dad said hi to me, which I hardly acknowledged.  It would be weird if I was talking back to the "tv"...duh.  So we finished our conversation, I tried to hang up the phone, (failed), finally acknowledged the greeting from his dad, and then I heard, "what did you say?".  I played it off like it wasn't a big deal and then walked out his front door while he was getting out of his car.  Really awesome and exciting...and overly cheesy.

That weekend, I went with Chris' family to Minneapolis to celebrate his grandma's birthday.  We stayed near the Mall of America and had dinner there on Friday.  I didn't do any shopping, but on the up side, I saved lots of money!  On Saturday we took a ride on the Mississippi and got to go through one of the locks.  While some might think it's boring, I think it's pretty interesting. 

This is a picture from the top of the lock and you can see the rapids.

And here's a picture from the bottom when we're about to leave. (I don't know those people, they were just kind of in the shot)

Later we returned to Northbrook where I ended up staying a week longer than planned because I didn't have to work.  I stayed until Sunday and on Friday we all went out to dinner to celebrate his dad's last day at his job.  He's moving on to another university and will be a dean there.  While pondering what to order at The Yard House, I spotted this is Chris' menu.

Part of me thought, why would $100 be shoved into a menu like that?  But I wrote it off as pure luck.  We were shocked at our good fortune.  At first I thought it was a $10, but then I saw the extra 0.  I asked if we should tell his parents, but he said no, we'd just buy dinner and we'd tell them later.  So we were really excited to have this extra money and be able to live it up and pay for dinner.  I felt like an idiot because I was really excited about it and felt like I couldn't stop smiling.  So about the time our appetizers arrive, Chris decides to take out the bill and revel in our luck.  (Do you know where this is going?) 

Instead when he opened it, he found this... 

He immediately hung his head and I burst into fits of laughter.  I'm not sure why the loss of what we thought was 100 free dollars was so hilarious to me, but I couldn't stop laughing which prompted his parents to ask what was so funny, to which he responded by sullenly throwing the fake hundred on the table.  We all laughed about it, but to be honest, it was disappointing, even though I laughed while writing this.  Looking back now, I realize the naivete of it all, but it happens.  I had to give the guy credit for a fantastic advertising idea...while Chris said he would never buy anything from there.

That's about all I have going on right now.  I'm headed to Moline this weekend with some friends and am excited to go to The Daiquiri Factory when it's warm out...instead of 20ish degrees.  Then it's just a few shifts at BBW and 95% chance of going to Fairview for 4th of July weekend!

Oh also, there's a boil order/water shortage in Jacksonville due to recent flooding.  I just found out today, but it's been in effect since Saturday.  It hasn't mattered much because I don't drink my water, but I feel bad for doing a load of laundry yesterday...oops!  I guess I'll start watching the news now.

78 Days of Summer

My 78 days of summer officially begin on Wednesday.  Finals are over, all of my grading is done and grades are posted with the exception of 1 test that will be taken tomorrow.  1 day of teacher institute and 30 minutes on Wednesday for the students to collect their report cards and I'll be free for my "3 month" vacation, as all my non-teacher friends like to remind me I get.

I watched (500) Days of Summer this weekend and while I had heard it was an awful movie, mainly because there are parts that are incredibly depressing, I actually ended up liking it.  The main character Tom works for a greeting card company and one of his coworkers asks for some help on new ways to say "Congratulations".  Tom responds with this,

"Every day you make me proud.  But today you get a card."

I'm not sure why I find that so incredibly wonderful.  It's possible that I loved it so much because most of the time, the people in our lives do things to make us proud of them on a daily basis, even if they're small achievements.  Yet, it's only on big days like graduations where we take the time to tell them.  It makes me feel like we should tell them more often.

Sheep and Goat

I found this website on a blog I frequent and I was a little disappointed that I had never heard of any of the books/stories.

This is by far my favorite quote right now...possibly because it really hits home.

"What are you doing?" asks Goat. "I'm looking for happiness," answers Sheep. "Don't waste your time, Sheep. Happiness will find you." "Help me look!" shouts Sheep. "No, I'm much too comfortable here," says Goat. "Then I'll look by myself. But if I find happiness, I'm going to keep it," says Sheep. ...
"Well, did you find happiness?" asks Goat. "I thought I had. But I was wrong. I'm sorry." "That's all right, Sheep," says Goat. "Would you like a mouthful of hay? It's a little dry today." "It doesn't matter," says Sheep. She takes a big bite. It is dry, and a little dusty. But it tastes like happiness.

More later.

*Besos*

April Ramblings

Where have I been? 

Just about everywhere.  I went to visit Chris' over President's Day weekend, Evansville to meet up with some school friends and home.

I wish I stayed more on top of blogging.  I always feel like within those first few weeks after a post, I don't have much to say and then before I know it, months have passed.  Recently, even though I have things to talk about, I've been pretty busy.  I signed up to take one of my certification tests, which is a week from today.  It's the teaching test and since I didn't go to school in Illinois, I was really worried that I might not have been exposed to everything I should have.  I bought a study guide and made a study plan.  I've not followed it very well.  I have about 160 pages left and exactly a week.  Completely doable, but I have no motivation for it.  I took a practice test today and did well.  Some of the information I recognized from the study guide, so I guess I'll continue to study. 

I don't read as much because if I read, I feel like that's time that should be spent studying.  So do I study instead?  No, I just waste time watching tv or wandering around facebook.  It reminds me of what I used to do in college when there was a class I didn't enjoy reading for.  Instead of doing something I knew I'd enjoy, I just let the time slip away.

Chris' Borders is closing, while this makes me sad, we've really cleaned up.  We spent about 2 hours (about an hour in line) there when I visited.  Things were only 20% off but you'd think everything was $2 with the amount of people that were there.  I only bought things that were marked down before the 20% off so I continued to be a bargain shopper.  I left Chris with a list of books for both my mom and me.  He goes back now and then to check the markdowns and increase my already oversized collection of books.  I'm getting ever closer to needing a library the size of Belle's in Beauty and the Beast.

Evansville was tons of fun and I got to meet up with some sisters that I don't have as much time to stay in contact with because we all lead busy lives and most of them are still in school.  There were some dinner dates, some shopping and lots and lots of talking!  It was really great to see them again, but it also made me realize that I'm fairly lonely in Jacksonville.  Normally I don't mind, I have a lot of time to myself.  But it's always nice to see some familiar faces.

Home was wonderful as always!  I got to spend a lot of time with Mom, Julie and the kids.  I really miss seeing the kids often, but besides the summers, I guess it's fairly normal.

I've started running again.  It's not going as well as I had anticipated and I guess I'm more out of shape than I thought, but I'm improving a little bit every day.  I didn't run very far today because it was 80 degrees outside, but I'm planning to try again when it starts to cool off in about an hour or so.  I normally run a small lap around part of my neighborhood that is a half mile.  I like it a lot more than running one big lap because I'm always close to home.

Easter is coming up!  That might be one of my favorite holidays because it's normally warm and there's always the egg cracking competition to look forward to on Dad's side.  I came in 2nd last year.  I've never been so close to winning.  Maybe this year is my year!  Also, I'm soooo excited to meet baby Ava!  My cousin Sarah lives in Denver and Ava was born at the end of December, so I have yet to meet her.  Unfortunately, Chris and I will be spending Easter apart because Brandon and Alex will both be home from school, so he doesn't want to miss out on sibling time.  All three of them are currently in Evansville this weekend to celebrate Brandon's 21st birthday tomorrow!  I'm a bit jealous.

The weekend following Easter I have a trip planned to go north and Chris and I plan to go to Chicago and spend a day downtown because I have some train tickets that expire at the end of May.  We haven't figured out what we're going to do yet, but I'm sure we'll find something fun.

There's only about a month and a half left of school.  I'm definitely getting ready for my 3 month vacation.  The kids are becoming less and less attentive and even good kids are starting to slack.  It's discouraging to watch it happening.  I had a student ask the other day if we could have a countdown on the board of how many days are left of the school year.  I said no because I feel like if they're constantly reminded by how many days we have left, the faster they will continue to check out.  I'm doing all I can to slow down the process, but I don't really think it's working.

My Psych kids are excited to watch A Beautiful Mind.  I'm also planning to show clips from Scrubs and The Office that have some connections to what we'll be studying.  I was shocked when I told them this and a student actually complained.  He said he would much rather watch documentaries and see real people and real stories.  Knowing that, I'm going to try to find some more scientific things to show as well.

That's all I've got for now, but I promise to return soon :)

*Besos*

Jury Duty Cutie

Once again, another month has flown by since the last time I posted.  So much has happened and I'll do my best to remember it all!  Chris and I have been seeing each other an awful lot....I think that phrase is funny "awful lot" because nothing has been awful about it.  I went to visit him the weekend following MLK day and he came to visit the next weekend.  We're always looking for fun things to do with our time together that is something out of the ordinary.  When we're here we sometimes make a trip to Springfield which is nice for the shopping and the plethora of restaurants.  Normally we end up just hanging out and watching tv, but it's always nice to be together.  The last time he was here I talked him into going to one of the boys' basketball games.  It was a tournament championship and they lost, but it was definitely a lot of fun to go.  My students were also really excited about getting to meet him.  They're insisting that he comes to prom though.

That next week was a relaxing one!  We only had school for 1.5 days.  We got out early on Monday because of the sleet that started at about 11 and we didn't go back til Friday.  I didn't do any planning during that time because I was super lazy, but I did end up reading a lot.  Now is a good time to plug my most recent book....

This was book #6 and also a Borders clearance book.  I LOVED it.  I don't remember the last time I enjoyed a book so much.  It was hard to follow at first, but once I kept track of all the characters, it was really great.  I will definitel be reading more by this author.

Speaking of Borders....
1. Those clearance books I think may be one of the best ideas ever.  My mom and I end up reading them and then looking for books by the same author because we enjoy the $4 ones so much....so definitely a great play on their part.
2. Borders filed for bankruptcy.  They have started closing stores, but the one I frequent (when I'm home) isn't one of them.  Thank goodness!  I think if the whole company went under, I might be shattered.  I thought about that on Monday when they announced it.  I think the 2 stores that I could not live without would be Borders and Kohls.  I know what you're thinking....that's a bit dramatic.  Yes, maybe it is, but here's why....a. B&N doesn't have the same cozy feel to me that Borders does. b. Yes, Amazon may be cheaper, but ordering online is not as fun as browsing the store and finding those great books you weren't even looking for (especially clearance!) c. Amazon doesn't have price tags on their books.  Make fun of me if you want, but my favorite part of returning from a book shopping spree is peeling the price tag off the book.  That's the moment I feel like it's really mine, because I don't intend to return it then.

While I'm on the book subject (yes, I'm obsessed).  Julie is thinking about getting a Kindle/type of ebook reader.  It makes me wonder if I'll ever own one since I love books so much, but I fear that some day there will be no books for me left to buy that are not digital.  While I was contemplating this, I found this post.
How To Read A Book  <I think this is such a wonderfully, well-articulated tribute to the printed word in book form and it reaffirmed my love for physical books.

Ok, moving on from the book tangent.

I saw Despicable Me the last time I was at Chris' house.  LOVED IT!  It was really great and I enjoyed it the whole time.  Chris was not incredibly excited to watch it, but he also enjoyed it, but I think enjoyed watching me watch it even more.

I was home last weekend because I had jury duty on Monday (Happy Valentine's Day to me).  I'm glad I went home right away because it was a fantastic weekend!  We went out for Julie's birthday on Friday night to Joe Boccardi's.  It was delicious and I had a really great time with Julie, EJ and my mom.  Then later that night while I was sitting in my room I looked up to see Chris standing in the hallway.  He's starting to get really good at surprising me.  Saturday we played with Hailey and Jacob most of the day, had roast for dinner (mmmmm) and met Chris' brother Brandon at TGI Fridays in St. Louis. Brandon was in town for a Greek conference for school.  It was a lot of fun and I had a great time with both of them. 

Monday was my first ever jury duty experience.  I was there for 2 hours and released because only one trial actually went to court.  A guy I went to high school with happened to also have jury duty the same day so we got lunch together at the mall when we were done.  I had to go back on Tuesday for a whole 25 minutes just to find out I was released again.  I went back to work today and found other this afternoon that I've been excused!  Overall, jury duty was pretty easy because I never even got assigned to a trial.  So now I'm hoping that it'll be awhile before they call me again.  I really hated being gone for those 2 days and it was just really stressful to have to plan everything and worry about how the kids were doing.  They were a little disappointed to see me back because that meant they wouldn't get to watch some of the movies I had planned, but I decided that some of my classes will finish the week with the movies and the other ones will watch them later. 

I'll leave with this....I just found it in my saved pictures file and I like it

*Besos*



Pages and Pomegranates

It's been awhile.  I've been busy....planning!  I'm so far ahead it's so wonderful!  It makes me so happy and I have time to actually read!  This is the best I've kept up with reading since I think I was in high school...even then I kinda sucked at it when I was in school because I always had so much reading to do for school I was tired of it.  But now it's so relaxing and I've already finished 2 books since the new year started.  It makes me feel so accomplished and happy that I get to read during the school year instead of just during the summer.

Here is one that I read during our trip to VA.  Very interesting, began as a Borders clearance book and has already been passed around my mom's work and to me.  It's funny and also fairly thought provoking.



I had Monday off school and what always occurs on this 3 day weekend in January?  Birthtoberfest of course!  This meant another trip to Moline, IL for catching up and a great deal of enjoyment with college friends.  I carpooled with Stuart and Whitney both ways, which was incredibly fun and I even got some reading done too!  Saturday I had my first Chinese buffet experience....at which, if it is possible to fail a buffet, I did so with flying colors.  I ate mainly bread and rice because I didn't like the sesame chicken and I needed Whitney's help to open the rice steamer, because apparently I'm kitchen appliance inept, if there is such a thing :) 

We had Old Chicago for dinner where I was introduced to pomegranate...in mojito form.  Delicious!  I want to try the fruit, maybe I can add it to my list of fruits I like...which would then include....1.  We also watched the first part of the Falcons-Packers game...the part where they were winning.  Chris and I were bummed.  I've developed a disdain for them since becoming a Bears fan.  After OC we proceeded to the Daiquiri Factory which is extremely cool (literally) because daiquiris are the theme so there are lots of frozen/slushie drinks.  My favorite is the Naughty Girl Scout because it's mint chocolate chip!  If you google it, you could find a whole menu. 

The girls at the Daiquiri Factory. :)

In the District, which is where the Daiquiri Factory is, they have these really cool trees.  They are not trees with lights, they are trees made of lights.  Very interesting and add a nice touch to the area.

Then we returned home where the rest of the night was filled with Rock Band 3 and Dance Central(?) on xbox kinect....super fun despite the fact that I suck at dancing.  But learning them and being told your moves were "flawless" is a nice confidence boost.

I had all of Monday to relax...which I did in the form of reading!!! (can you tell I'm super excited about this?)

In other news, Chris likes his job so far.  I don't completely understand what it is that he does...something to do with reviewing contracts, whatever that means! :)  To be honest, I think it sounds a little boring...of course it's not the glamorous life of telling kids to sit down, shut up and do their assignment (ok, maybe not in so many words), but he's happy with it, so I'll take it.

Oh, also!  My Bears shirt is not bad luck!  I was wearing it on Sunday so I'm happy they didn't lose because of me.  I hope it will continue not being unlucky next week when they play the Packers...again.

*Besos*

Good Times Never Seemed So Good

So much has happened in the last week!

The wedding was tons of fun!  We had 4 very positive flying experiences, with the exception of our gate in Detroit getting moved 3 times during our lay-over.  We landed at C20, first went to C7, then to C37 and then finally to C19.  If only they had figured it out right away, we would have barely had to move.  We got into Richmond, hitched a ride with some friends and found an Amazing local pizza place.  Piccola's pizza was incredibly fantastic and I was dying to have some of their pasta, but we ran out of time (and stomach room) to have any.  Chris apologized that we didn't get to go back for dinner, but said maybe we could go back to Richmond sometime.  It sounds like we would be going back for just a restaurant, even though we're not....it was that good.  I can't bring myself to throw the receipt away.  The wedding was beautiful and the reception was extremely cool!  Since the wedding was at 7, there wasn't a sit down dinner at the reception, but they had hors d'oeuvres including a tomato soup shooter with a grilled cheese chaser (clever) and a gourmet mac and cheese bar (Chris' favorite part!).  The mac and cheese was inventive with bacon and spinach as well as lobster...and another one I can't remember.  I only had the bacon and spinach kind.  It was really great to see everyone again and it is probably one of my favorite New Year's Eve nights.  At midnight when we all counted down, I felt like an adult at a super swanky NYE party....which it was.  Oh and I also realized what a great song "Sweet Caroline" is.

There was some disappointment when we got back because we attempted to get Noodles and Company(for me) and Chipotle(for Chris) for lunch in Springfield, but they were both closed because it was New Year's Day.  We settled for Panda and it was fantastic.  (I just realized that I've spent most of this post talking about food).

It was nice to have some down time on Sunday.  Chris and I watched the Bears game while playing Monopoly City...I won.  Unfortunately the Bears lost, but we were sporting our gear anyway...I hope my shirt isn't bad luck!

I survived the first week back at school.  It kind of felt like a 4 day week since Monday was the 2nd day of finals and I didn't have to do much.  My crazy big 3rd period class was split into 2 classes and I've had happy mornings all week!  It's crazy how much stress decreases by taking bodies out of the room.  My Psychology class is big, but I'm loving it because they all seem so excited and enthusiastic about learning the material.  I hope they stay that way once we get into the structure and functions of the brain. 

The week was also a bit easier to deal with because I got a midweek visit from Chris because he had an interview in Springfield.  The job ended up not working out because they wouldn't be hiring until the end of January and he was offered another job that starts on Monday.  So since they couldn't give him an answer, he's accepted the other one and starting then!  It's in Chicago, which is a little disappointing, but overall definitely a positive in such a difficult economy.

*Besos*